When the Taliban seized control in Afghanistan in 1996, Afghanistan had been unstable for decades. Prior to the deployment of the Soviet Army, Afghanistan was ruled by the communist party the “People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan” after a 1978 coup. The party was very unpopular, especially to the traditional rural populations. Although a political minority, the government suppressed opposition, arrested thousands and executed up to 27,000 political prisoners. Different anti-government groups were formed and many people openly rebelled. On December 24th, 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in support of the communist government. After nine years of conflict and 15,000 Soviet lives lost, the 40th Army of the Soviet Union retreated.
Countries including the United States, Pakistan, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia supported the Afghan fighters, or mujahideen, with large amounts of financial aid and military training. In 1992, Mujahideen forces removed the government of Mohammad Najibullah, who was supported by the Soviet Union. At this time, several different political parties or religious groups were competing for influence and infighting led to the Afghan Civil War.
In September of 1994, Mullah Mohammad Omar along with 50 students formed the group that would later be known as the Taliban. Omar and his group believed that the struggle Afghan groups had ruling the country was due to a lack of following strict Islamic law. Pakistan strongly supported the Taliban during this time and on November 3rd, 1994, the Taliban committed a surprise attack and took over Kandahar City. Within several months, the Taliban controlled 12 Afghan provinces..
In Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the Taliban mainly operate, many people had no choice but to obey the Taliban in threat of violence or death. At this time, however the Taliban grew more popular because many religious people felt betrayed by Pakistan’s military and government for being corrupt and preferred the Taliban’s form of justice. By 1998, the Taliban controlled 90% of Afghanistan.
The following year, the Taliban attacked the city of Mazar-i-Sharif and killed an estimated 8,000 people in an act of revenge for the reported slaughter of 3,000 Taliban members after politician Abdul Malik Pahlawan invited them to the city. Osama Bin Laden, the founder of the al-Qaeda terrorist group, further allied himself with the Taliban by sending hundred of Arab Afghans to fight alongside them. Following this, the United Nations instated an air embargo, froze the Taliban’s assets, and ordered an arms embargo in an attempt to force them to surrender Osama Bin Laden for trial.
It is difficult for me to understand how the Taliban became so powerful and influential when it seems clear that they are violent and extreme in their bigotry. Like many dictatorships, the Taliban controlled all forms of media and would use the radio, songs and videos to convince the people to support them. Along with the support the Taliban received in opposition to the Afghanistan government, they were able to influence people in Pakistan and Afghanistan using propaganda and manipulating poorly educated or rural populations.
In 2001, the Taliban’s tactics of control escalated. Ignoring international pressures, the Taliban blew up several Buddhist statues that had towered over the cliffs of Bamiyan for 2,000 years, ordered religious minorities to wear tags that identified them as non-Muslims, banned the use of the internet, computers, television, movies and musical instruments.
On September 11th, 2001, four different American passenger airplanes were hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists. Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center “twin towers” in New York City, one crashed into the headquarters of the Department of Defense called the Pentagon, and the final plane originally headed towards Washington D.C crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers tried to overpower the hijackers.
After the devastating attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and injured over 6,000 more, the United States began the War on Terror and invaded Afghanistan to rid of the Taliban who protected al-Qaeda. After initially denying his involvement, Bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attacks.
